Every computer system today requires a video subsystem to operate properly and to allow a user to interact with the computer. The same holds true in a distributed computing environments
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional distributed computing system. One example of a distributed computing system 10 is a large server farm that is used to provide some type of “e-utility” over a network or the Internet. The distributed computing system 10 may include tens or hundreds of servers 12a–n, each with its own processor 14, memory 16, a core chip 18, a system bus 20, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, and video subsystem 22. In order for the servers 12 to be accessed remotely by an operator, a switch 24 connects the video subsystems 22 of the servers 12 together so that their video signals can be switched between a single display 26.
The video signals produced by each server 12 are typically sent across a system bus 20 to the video subsystem 22. In operation, the processor 14 sends out video bus cycles, which are initiated by the core chip 18. The core chip 18 converts signals between the processor bus and other system buses in the computer. The video subsystem 22 monitors the PCI bus 20 and reads the signals that have the appropriate addresses. The video subsystem 22 decodes the PCI bus cycles read-off the bus 20, and converts them into signals required for the display 26.
The current video architecture for distributed systems 10 has several disadvantages. First, the video subsystem 22 of each server 12 may sit unused for long periods of time because the operator only needs to monitor one server 12 at a time. Therefore, the video subsystem 22 built into the servers 12 are redundant and increase the cost of not only each server 12, but also the cost of the overall system 10. Second, although the video subsystem 22 of each server 12 sits mostly unused, the processor 14 continues to issue video commands, which consumes bandwidth and degrades overall server performance. In addition, all the redundant video subsystems 22 are additional components that continually consume power and may also malfunction, reducing system reliability.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved video architecture for use in distributed computing systems. The present invention addresses such a need.